Self-propelling cleaner

ABSTRACT

When detecting suction of a lighted object such as a cigarette or a match, a self-propelling cleaner  1  sends it to a dust room  12   a  by controlling a valve  8   a . The self-propelling cleaner  1  collects ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper into a dust room  12   b  by controlling the valve  8   a . Since a lighted object such as a cigarette and ordinary dust are thus sent to two different dust rooms in a discriminated manner, even if a lighted object such as a cigarette is sucked other dust in the dust room can be prevented from catching fire from it, whereby the self-propelling cleaner is made safer from suction of a lighted object.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a self-propelling cleaner that cleans a cleaning area by sucking dust existing there by causing a main body to move autonomously in the cleaning area.

2. Description of the Related Art

Among vacuum cleaners for cleaning dust such as dust on a floor or the like is one in which the main body is equipped with two dust rooms for collecting dust that is sucked into the main body, one dust room being used as a dust room for collecting ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper and the other being as a dust room for collecting special dust such as metal pieces and glass pieces (refer to JP-A-7-047042). The vacuum cleaner described in Patent document 1 is such that a user chooses a dust room for collecting sucked dust in accordance with a type of dust that is about to be sucked.

In recent years, self-propelling cleaners have been put in practical use that clean a cleaning area that is set by a user by sucking dust on a floor or the like as the main body moves autonomously in the cleaning area. Since a self-propelling cleaner cleans a cleaning area that is set irrespective of an action of a user, the user can act irrespective of the cleaning of the cleaning area being performed by the self-propelling cleaner once he or she performs a manipulation for starting the cleaning on the main body; for example, the user can watch TV or study. The load of cleaning can thus be reduced to a large extent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

However, a self-propelling cleaner may collide with furniture or the like that is placed in a cleaning area while it cleans the cleaning area that was set by a user by moving there. To prevent the main body or a hit piece of furniture or the like from being damaged, a buffer material or the like for reducing impact of a collision is attached to the periphery of the main body of a self-propelling cleaner. Therefore, the collision between the self-propelling cleaner and furniture or the like is not problematic in itself. However, the following problem may occur. Impact of a collision between a self-propelling cleaner and a table, for example, causes a lighted cigarette to drop from an ashtray that is placed on the table, and the lighted cigarette is sucked through the suction mouth. The dust in the dust room catches fire from the lighted cigarette to cause a fire. In other words, conventional self-propelling cleaners have a problem that a sufficient safety measure is not taken against suction of a lighted cigarette or the like.

One measure against this problem is to provide two dust rooms and use them for collecting ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper and for receiving a lighted object, respectively, as described in Patent document 1. With this measure, even if a lighted object is sucked, the dust in the dust room can be prevented from catching fire from it: the vacuum cleaner is safer from suction of a lighted object. However, in the case of self-propelling cleaners, since a cleaning area is cleaned irrespective of an action of a user, it is necessary to switch automatically between the dust rooms to be used for collecting ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper and for receiving a lighted object, respectively. However, no technique for switching between such dust rooms has been proposed yet.

One of objects of the present invention is to provide a self-propelling cleaner that is safer from suction of a lighted object because it sends a lighted object such as a cigarette and ordinary dust to two different dust rooms in a discriminated manner.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a self-propelling cleaner including: a main body provided with a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust, the first dust room includes a box made of an inflammable material for accommodating the dust; a self-propelling section that propels the main body; a sucking section provided with a suction mouth and a suction fan, and collects into one of the first and second dust rooms dust that is sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the suction fan; a cleaning section that controls the self-propelling section and the sucking section to perform cleaning while propelling the main body within a preset cleaning area; a dust temperature detecting section having a heat detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth and determines whether or not a temperature of a sucked piece of the dust is higher than a predetermined temperature; a water detecting section having a water detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth, and determines whether or not water is sucked through the suction mouth; a valve that is provided between the suction mouth and the first and second dust rooms; a dust room switching section that controls the valve to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the first dust room, to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the second dust room, to collect the water sucked through the suction mouth into the first dust room.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a self-propelling cleaner including: a main body provided with a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust; a self-propelling section that propels the main body; a sucking section provided with a suction mouth and a suction fan, and collects into one of the first and second dust rooms dust that is sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the suction fan; a cleaning section that controls the self-propelling section and the sucking section to perform cleaning while propelling the main body within a preset cleaning area; a dust temperature detecting section having a heat detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth and determines whether or not a temperature of a sucked piece of the dust is higher than a predetermined temperature; a valve that is provided between the suction mouth and the first and second dust rooms; a dust room switching section that controls the valve to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the first dust room, and to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the second dust room.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing preferred exemplary embodiments thereof in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main part of a self-propelling cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams as internal sectional and bottom views showing the structure of the self-propelling cleaner according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows the structure of dust rooms of the self-propelling cleaner according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation relating to cleaning of the self-propelling cleaner according to the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A self-propelling cleaner according to an embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main part of the self-propelling cleaner according to the embodiment of the invention. FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing the internal structure of the self-propelling cleaner according to the embodiment. FIG. 2A is a side sectional view and FIG. 2B is a bottom view. The self-propelling cleaner 1 according to the embodiment is equipped with a control section 2 for controlling the operation of the main body, a sucking section 3 for sucking dust into the main body, a moving section 3 for causing the main body to move autonomously, a display/manipulation section 5 for displaying the status of the main body and receiving a manipulation input to the main body, a temperature detecting section 6 for judging whether the temperature of an object that has been sucked into the main body is higher than a predetermined temperature, a liquid detecting section 7 for detecting suction of liquid such as water into the main body, and a dust room switching section 8 for switching the dust room for collecting objects that are sucked into the main body.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the self-propelling cleaner 1 has a disc-shaped appearance. A map in which a cleaning area to be cleaned is set is stored in the control section 2. The map contains information indicating a start position and end position of cleaning and a movement route of the main body from the start position to the end position. The control section 2 can store a plurality of maps. A user can store a map of an arbitrary cleaning area and delete a map stored in the control section 2 by performing a prescribed input manipulation on the display/manipulation section 5. The sucking section 3 produces a suction air flow for sucking dust through the suction mouth 10 and collecting the dust into a dust room 12 by rotating a suction fan 11. The suction mouth 10 is connected to the dust rooms via a pipe 15, and dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 is sent to the dust room 12 through the pipe 15.

As shown in FIG. 3, the self-propelling cleaner 1 according to this embodiment the dust room 12 is divided into two rooms 12 a and 12 b. The pipe 15 that connects the suction mouth 10 and the dust room 12 branches off before the dust room 12 into two parts, which are connected to the inlets of the dust rooms 12 a and 12 b, respectively. A valve 8 a for selectively closing one of the inlets of the pipes that are connected to the respective dust rooms 12 a and 12 b. The dust room switching section 8 switches the state of the valve 8 a. When the inlet of the pipe that is connected to the one dust room 12 a is closed by the valve 8 a, dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 is collected into the other dust room 12 b. Conversely, when the inlet of the pipe that is connected to the dust room 12 b is closed by the valve 8 a, dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 is collected into the dust room 12 a. In other words, switching between the dust rooms 12 a and 12 b for collecting dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 can be made by the state of the valve 8 a.

The one dust room (first dust room) 12 a houses a box having an open top and made of an inflammable material such as a steel sheet. Dust that has entered the dust room 12 a via the pipe 15 falls into the box. Dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 is collected into the box. The height of the box is approximately a half of that of the dust room 12 a, whereby a flow path of a suction air flow that is produced by the rotation of the suction fan 11 is secured. The other dust room (second dust room) 12 b is configured so that a bag-shaped dust pack can be attached thereto. Dust is collected into the dust pack. The dust pack is made of paper of relatively coarse fiber. The opening portion of the dust pack is attached to the inlet of the dust room 12 b. The one dust room 12 a is used as a dust room for receiving a lighted object such as a cigarette or a match as well as liquid such as water. The other dust room 12 b is used as a dust room for collecting ordinary dust such as dust and wastepaper.

The moving section 3 performs, according to an instruction from the control section 2, a rotation control on a motor for rotating driving wheels 13 that move the main body. The driving wheels 13 are a pair of wheels that are opposed to each other with a proper interval. The moving section 3 controls the movement direction of the main body by controlling the rotation directions and rotation speeds of the two driving wheels 13 individually by a known PWM control. Reference numeral 14 denotes a follower wheel that is provided to secure sufficient stability of movement of the main body.

A heat detection sensor 6 a for detecting the temperature of dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 and a pair of electrodes 7 a for detecting suction of liquid such as water through the suction mouth 10 are attached to the periphery of the suction mouth 10. The heat detection sensor 6 a is a known sensor for measuring the temperature of an object that passes a detection position by utilizing infrared light. The temperature detecting section 6 judges whether a lighted object such as a cigarette or a match has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 on the basis of a measurement result of the heat detection sensor 6 a. More specifically, the temperature detecting section 6 judges that a lighted object has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 if a temperature detected by the heat detection sensor 6 a is higher than a temperature (e.g., 50° C.) that should not be exhibited by objects as ordinarily found on the floor of a room, such as dust or wastepaper. This temperature is determined in advance. The liquid detecting section 7 measures the resistance value between the electrodes 7 a. The liquid detecting section 7 judges that liquid has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 if the resistance value is smaller than a predetermined value.

The display/manipulation section 5 has a receiving section for receiving a control code that is transmitted from a remote controller (not shown) to the main body.

Next, the operation of the self-propelling cleaner 1 according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a cleaning operation of the self-propelling cleaner 1 according to the embodiment. When receiving an input as an instruction to start cleaning, the self-propelling cleaner 1 starts cleaning. An instruction to start cleaning can be input to the self-propelling cleaner by a manipulation on keys that are provided on the display/manipulation section 5 or a remote manipulation on the remote controller (not shown). The instruction to start cleaning contains information that specifies a cleaning area that is going to be cleaned. When receiving the instruction to start cleaning, first, the self-propelling cleaner 1 reads out a stored map that corresponds to the cleaning area that has been specified this time (s1) and moves the main body to a cleaning start position that is indicated by the map (s2). The movement to the cleaning start position is caused by the moving section 3. At this time, the sucking section 3 does not rotate the suction fan 11.

When the main body has reached the cleaning start position, the dust room switching section 8 sets the valve 8 a to the state (hereinafter referred to as “ordinary state”) that dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 is collected into the dust room 12 b, that is, the state that the inlet to the dust room 12 b is closed (s3). After setting the valve 8 a to the ordinary state, the self-propelling cleaner 1 starts to clean the cleaning area that was specified this time (s4). At step s4, the sucking section 3 starts rotating the suction fan 11 and the moving section 3 starts moving the main body along the movement route from the cleaning start position to the end position that is indicated by the map that was read out at step s1.

After the cleaning was started at step s4, the self-propelling cleaner 1 monitors whether a lighted object or liquid has been sucked through the suction mouth until the main body reaches the cleaning end position (s5-s7). The self-propelling cleaner 1 judges that a lighted object has been sucked if the temperature detecting section 6 has detected that an object whose temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature has been sucked through the suction mouth 10. The self-propelling cleaner 1 judges that liquid has been sucked if the liquid detecting section 7 has judged that the resistance value between the electrodes 7 a has become smaller than the predetermined value.

If the self-propelling cleaner 1 judges at step s5 that a lighted object has been sucked, the dust room switching section 8 switches the valve 8 a from the ordinary state to the state (hereinafter referred to as “particular state”) that dust that is sucked through the suction mouth 10 is collected to the dust room 12 a, that is, the state that the inlet to the dust room 12 a is closed (s8). As a result, the lighted object that has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 this time is sent to the dust room 12 a rather than the dust room 12 b. Therefore, the ordinary dust collected in the dust room 12 b does not catch fire from the lighted object that has been sucked this time: occurrence of a fire can be prevented. If a prescribed time has elapsed from the switching of the valve to the particular state (s8), the self-propelling cleaner 1 returns the valve 8 a to the ordinary state (s9 and s10). The prescribed time should be a little longer than a time that is taken by a piece of dust to travel from the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12, and is set at about 1 second. With this measure, the self-propelling cleaner 1 reliably sends a lighted object that has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12 a and prevents ordinary dust such as dust or wastepaper from entering the dust room 12 a thereafter. In other words, the self-propelling cleaner 1 prevents inflammable ordinary dust from entering the dust room 12 a.

If the self-propelling cleaner 1 judges at step s6 that liquid such as water has been sucked, the dust room switching section 8 switches the valve 8 a from the ordinary state to the particular state (s11) like it does so at step s8. At this time, the moving section 3 suspends the movement of the main body (s12) whereas the sucking section 3 continues to rotate the suction fan 11 rather than stops its rotation. As a result, the self-propelling cleaner 1 can send liquid such as water that has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12 a. Since the movement of the main body is suspended when liquid is sucked through the suction mouth 10, almost all of spilled liquid around the stop position can be sent to the dust room 12 a and part of the spilled liquid is prevented from being dragged to reach another place.

When the movement of the main body is suspended at step s12, the self-propelling cleaner 1 waits until the resistance value between the electrodes 7 a becomes larger than the predetermined value (s13). Since the suction fan 11 is rotating in this state, the suction air flow from the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12 a accelerates the drying of the electrodes. If detecting that the resistance value between the electrodes 7 a has become larger than the predetermined value (s13), the self-propelling cleaner 1 switches the valve 8 a from the particular state to the ordinary state (s14) and the moving section 3 restarts movement of the main body (s15).

As described above, the self-propelling cleaner 1 according to the embodiment also sends liquid such as water that has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 to the dust room 12 a. Therefore, if the self-propelling cleaner 1 sucked liquid such as water before suction of a lighted object through the suction mouth 10, when the lighted object that has been sucked through the suction mouth 10 enters the dust room 12 a it is extinguished quickly by the liquid already existing there. Occurrence of a fire can thus be prevented more reliably. Since the dust room 12 a is a box made of an inflammable material, it does not catch fire from a lighted object that enters it and liquid that has entered it does not fall from it.

When the main body has reached the end position of the cleaning area, the self-propelling cleaner 1 performs end processing at step s16 and finished this process. The end processing of step s16 is processing of stopping the suction fan 11 and causing the moving section 3 to move the main body to a standby position. For example, the standby position is a place where a charger for a battery (not shown) of the main body is installed.

A user may put water in advance in the box that is housed in the dust room 12.

As described above, according to the embodiment, the dust room for collecting dust that is sucked through the suction mouth is divided into the two dust rooms. The dust temperature detecting section judges, using the heat detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth, whether the temperature of a piece of dust sucked through the suction mouth is higher than the predetermined temperature. The dust room switching sections sends, to the one dust room, a piece of dust whose temperature is higher than the predetermined temperature and collects, into the other dust room, dust whose temperature is not higher than the predetermined temperature, by controlling the valve that is disposed between the suction mouth and the two dust rooms.

When the predetermined temperature is set at a preset temperature (e.g., about 50° C.) that should not be exhibited by ordinary dust such as dust or wastepaper, switching between the dust room for receiving a lighted object and the dust room for collecting ordinary dust can be made automatically. Therefore, when a lighted object is sucked, the other dust in the dust room can be prevented from catching fire from it, whereby the self-propelling cleaner is made safer from suction of a lighted object.

According to the embodiment, when water is sucked through the suction mouth, the water is sent to the one dust room for receiving a lighted object. Therefore, when a lighted object is sucked, it can be extinguished quickly if water already exists in the one dust room. This makes it possible to prevent, more reliably, occurrence of a fire when a lighted object is sucked.

The dust room for receiving a lighted object may be made of an inflammable material such as a steel sheet. An alternative structure is such that a resin dust room houses a box made of an inflammable material and a lighted object is put into the box.

According to the embodiment, switching between the dust room for receiving a lighted object and the dust room for collecting ordinary dust can be made automatically. Therefore, when a lighted object is sucked, the other dust in the dust room can be prevented from catching fire from it, whereby the self-propelling cleaner is made safer from suction of a lighted object.

Although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to a specific preferred embodiment, various changes and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein. Such changes and modifications as are obvious are deemed to come within the spirit, scope and contemplation of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A self-propelling cleaner comprising: a main body provided with a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust, the first dust room includes a box made of an inflammable material for accommodating the dust; a self-propelling section that propels the main body; a sucking section provided with a suction mouth and a suction fan, and collects into one of the first and second dust rooms dust that is sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the suction fan; a cleaning section that controls the self-propelling section and the sucking section to perform cleaning while propelling the main body within a preset cleaning area; a dust temperature detecting section having a heat detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth and determines whether or not a temperature of a sucked piece of the dust is higher than a predetermined temperature; a water detecting section having a water detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth, and determines whether or not water is sucked through the suction mouth; a valve that is provided between the suction mouth and the first and second dust rooms; a dust room switching section that controls the valve to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the first dust room, to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the second dust room, to collect the water sucked through the suction mouth into the first dust room.
 2. A self-propelling cleaner comprising: a main body provided with a first and a second dust rooms for accommodating dust; a self-propelling section that propels the main body; a sucking section provided with a suction mouth and a suction fan, and collects into one of the first and second dust rooms dust that is sucked through the suction mouth by rotating the suction fan; a cleaning section that controls the self-propelling section and the sucking section to perform cleaning while propelling the main body within a preset cleaning area; a dust temperature detecting section having a heat detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth and determines whether or not a temperature of a sucked piece of the dust is higher than a predetermined temperature; a valve that is provided between the suction mouth and the first and second dust rooms; a dust room switching section that controls the valve to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the first dust room, and to collect a piece of dust whose temperature is determined not higher than the predetermined temperature by the dust temperature detecting section into the second dust room.
 3. The self-propelling cleaner according to claim 2, further comprising a water detecting section having a water detection sensor provided adjacent to the suction mouth, and determines whether or not water is sucked through the suction mouth, wherein the dust room switching section controls the valve to collect the water sucked through the suction mouth into the first dust room.
 4. The self-propelling cleaner according to claim 2, wherein the first dust room includes a box made of an inflammable material for accommodating the dust. 